this is the last time  you say
by patientalien
Summary: Anakin and Padme's life together in 50 sentences - "Suits"-verse, AU, drug addiction.


**title** this is the last time (you say)  
><strong>author<strong> **patientalien**  
><strong>rating<strong> R  
><strong>summary<strong> Padme's life with Anakin, in 50 sentences. "Suits"-verse  
><strong>notes<strong> I can't get this stupid AU out of my head, so expect at least a couple more. Title from "Circle the Drain" by Katy Perry (just consider the song the theme for this AU)  
><strong>warning(s)<strong> drug addiction, emotional abuse, suicide attempt

**#01 - Walking**  
>She's ready to just walk out of the party, but then Riyo introduces her to Anakin Skywalker and she finds herself staying.<p>

**#02 - Waltz**  
>Anakin sweeps her off her feet, and they make love into the early morning hours, an erotic waltz that Padme is loathe to stop.<p>

**#03 - Wishes**  
>She knows Anakin wishes his path were different, but they make the best of it; she also wishes he had told her about Obi-Wan.<p>

**#04 - Wonder**  
>She doesn't bother wondering what happened when he shows up at her apartment, claiming that, despite the large trust fund, he doesn't want to live alone.<p>

**#05 - Worry**  
>She begins to worry when she misses her period; worry turns to downright panic when the third test comes back positive.<p>

**#06 - Whimsy**  
>She doesn't tell Anakin right away; he is stressed out with finals and the competition that comes with the MBA program, so she makes their home a place of fun and relaxation - there's no room for babies.<p>

**#07 - Waste/Wasteland**  
>He doesn't ask her why she's not drinking at his graduation party, but he drinks enough for both of them and they have their first big fight over it.<p>

**#08 - Whiskey and rum**  
>He's employed at AdForce and informs her that his three-nights-a-week outings with "the guys" are networking opportunities; she's not sure how well he can network with his head in the toilet.<p>

**#09 - War**  
>She finds cocaine in his jacket pocket and nearly loses her mind (she is four months pregnant and can't think to leave).<p>

**#10 - Weddings**  
>She tells him, and he marries her, with all the pomp and circumstance of a wedding that is not out of shame; he manages to mostly stay sober, but she suspects the coke.<p>

**#11 - Birthday (II)**  
>He's in rehab when the twins are born and they send each other get well soon cards.<p>

**#12 - Blessing**  
>She loves Luke and Leia more than anything; she loves Anakin, too, and their newfound family (and his newfound sobriety) is a blessing she is more than happy to bask in.<p>

**#13 - Bias**  
>She knows it is her own desire to pretend everything is perfect that she pretends not to notice the liquor bottles that suddenly start appearing in the house.<p>

**#14 - Burning**  
>Anakin does everything with a burning intensity that sometimes scares her; even though he hates his new job, he still throws himself into it with everything he has.<p>

**#15 - Breathing**  
>She goes to bed alone many nights, woken in the early hours of the morning by him breathing against her face.<p>

**#16 - Breaking**  
>"Anakin, you're breaking my heart!" she cries, clutching her hand over her chest as he stumbles against the kitchen counter.<p>

**#17 - Belief**  
>He believes he can balance everything he needs to; the children (he is wonderful with them when he's okay), his job, and his extracurricular activities - she believes something will eventually give.<p>

**#18 - Balloon**  
>She doesn't think she's being unreasonable when she demands he not bring cocaine into the house; the day after they fight about it, he sends her a bouquet of balloons and wishes her a happy first anniversary.<p>

**#19 - Balcony**  
>His hands are gripped tightly on the balcony railing, and he stares down to the ground, one foot planted as if to climb up and over, an empty bottle of JD on the ground beside him; trembling, she pulls him away.<p>

**#20 - Bane**  
>The mood swings are becoming the bane of her existence; she never knows which Anakin is going to come through the door.<p>

**#21 - Quiet (III)**  
>She sits in the silence and rocks the twins to sleep; Anakin will not return for another two months.<p>

**#22 - Quirks**  
>Luke and Leia are their own people with their own quirks: Luke is active, adventurous - "Too much of his father in him," she's heard (and she hopes not, she really hopes not); Leia is contemplative, but her temper flares and Padme spends hours rocking her.<p>

**#23 - Question**  
>"How are you doing?" he asks, tentatively, as he puts his bags down in their foyer; they embrace, and she relaxes in his arms.<p>

**#24 - Quarrel**  
>They fight over little things: who gets up with the babies, whose turn it is to do the laundry, which silverware goes in what drawer; Padme finds herself exhausted at the end of every day.<p>

**#25 - Quitting**  
>She tries to get Anakin to quit his job, but if he does that, they will lose everything; she has her own work she could do, but she finds she's not sure she trusts him at home with the children.<p>

**#26 - Jump**  
>He jumps when she walks in on him, he tries to hide the bottle behind the toilet; she's not a stupid woman, but she forgoes the fight - this time.<p>

**#27 - Jester**  
>She tells him she knows he's not a fool, and wants to know why he keeps acting like one (he doesn't have an answer).<p>

**#28 - Jousting**  
>He tells her it's exciting to verbally joust with his clients, that he feels a rush of adrenaline when he convinces them to use one of his ideas; she knows it's just the cocaine.<p>

**#29 - Jewel**  
>Her wedding ring is from Tiffany's, she knows it's worth more than a luxury car, but it doesn't keep her warm and doesn't make her feel safe.<p>

**#30 - Just**  
>She doesn't want to leave, but something inside her knows that in order to be fair to all of them, it's a decision she needs to make sooner rather than later.<p>

**#31 - Smirk**  
>His smirk was something she'd originally loved, but when he uses it against her now she wants to scream.<p>

**#32 - Sorrow**  
>Padme knows Anakin is depressed, but doesn't realize the extent of it until she finds him unresponsive in the bathtub, fully clothed and barely breathing from the overdose.<p>

**#33 - Stupidity**  
>She rails at him for his stupidity and selfishness, even as the paramedics secure his airway.<p>

**#34 - Serenade (IV)**  
>Luke and Leia cry for their daddy, and she doesn't know how to explain to a pair of two year olds what is happening, or why Anakin will be gone for another three months.<p>

**#35 - Sarcasm**  
>"I'm sure you'll do great raising them without my family's money."<p>

**#36 - Sordid**  
>She finds pictures on his phone of a teenage girl with a wide smile, nothing too sordid, but enough to make her realize she needs to leave.<p>

**#37 - Soliloquy**  
>She feels like she is talking to herself when she's explaining to Anakin's grandfather what she feels she must do; the old man nods, and offers to support his grandchildren - and her - in exchange for her discretion.<p>

**#38 - Sojourn**  
>She packs up the kids and moves into an apartment, finds them a daycare and gets a job in the governer's office.<p>

**#39 - Share**  
>She used to sharing the details of her day with Anakin (when he's there, and sober), but now she shares them with Luke and Leia.<p>

**#40 - Solitary**  
>She tries not to think about how lonely she is, tries to accept that Anakin, despite being a warm body in her life, is not husband or father material; it doesn't make the nights any shorter.<p>

**#41 - Nowhere**  
>She tells Anakin where she moved to, and he shows up at her doorstep one day, claiming nowhere else to go; she lets him in, not sure what else to do.<p>

**#42 - Neutral**  
>The divorce isn't final until they see a marriage counselor; the neutral party suggests Anakin attend AA - he storms out before the session is over.<p>

**#43 - Nuance**  
>Anakin claims there is a difference between his behavior and addiction; Padme does not see any kind of nuance there, and she doesn't think anyone else does either.<p>

**#44 - Near**  
>The twins do not like it when she drops them off at daycare; they cling to her desperately, as if she will disappear as surely as Anakin did.<p>

**#45 - Natural**  
>She sees him at a gala event, one of his clients is a backer of the governor; he is a natural at working the room, but she can't help but notice how sick he looks - she wonders if anyone else does.<p>

**#46 - Horizon**  
>She does not return his calls, and when she finds out his mother has died, she almost feels guilty enough to call him back - instead, she takes the twins to the beach and spends an hour staring out at the horizon.<p>

**#47 - Valiant**  
>She makes an valiant effort to keep him out of her life, but she still loves him so lets him sleep on her couch from time to time.<p>

**#48 - Virtuous**  
>Though he spends time at her apartment, Padme makes sure their relationship remains strictly platonic.<p>

**#49 - Victory**  
>He wants to take her out to dinner to celebrate landing a huge account (she doesn't learn until later that it is Obi-Wan's and that he is booted from the campaign just as quickly as he was assigned to it), she declines and he goes out on his own; she doesn't know where he's gone until she gets a call at three in the morning from the police.<p>

**#50 - Defeat**  
>He calls her, a year later, and tells her that he's sorry, that he still loves Obi-Wan, that he's clean and sober and loves her - is not in love with her - and wants to be a part of the twins' lives; she hangs up on him, and gets on with her life.<p> 


End file.
